Masks
by Kid9535
Summary: My last dedication for L. Happy 28th Birthday. During Halloween again. His first meeting with Light.


A/N: I've done it! Again! Screwed up my brain! Okay, just read this in final remembrance of L's 28th birthday. No spoilers.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Death Note.

Masks

"Ah, I would like to go trick or treating, Watari-san," came the quiet voice of the 14 year old detective. A young boy plodded into the room, messy hair, dark ringed eyes and loose fitting clothes, it was nothing new to the eyes of the old man. He smiled in a fatherly attitude and consented. Once L left the room, Watari sighed, this was how L had always spent his birthday, trick or treating. He took a last glance at L's retreating figure and wondered briefly if the boy would ever find a friend worthy of his intellectual challenges.

"Sayu, slow down!"

"Hurry up nii-san, all the candy will be gone soon!" A young girl dashed across the street, laughing at her big brother who was much slower than her and less eager on the sugar profits of this…journey? No, too formal. Outing was more like it. He watched in amusement as his juvenile younger sister clad in her fairy princess outfit dash from house to house, yelling out in joy those famous three words that didn't have to do with people.

"Trick or Treat!"

"Trick or Treat!"

Followed by the yells of glee as the candy came tumbling from plastic containers and fell into her own pumpkin shaped container with plunks that seemed to trumpet the approaching of several cavities, 5 trips to the dentist and about a hundred or more headaches for her big brother. Light Yagami wondered briefly if they would go home soon, as he watched his hyperactive sister zoom from house to house in streaks of purple. He comforted himself with the fact that this holiday only happened once a year and not in Japan, but for the sake of an investigation, his father just _had_ to come all the way to America just to apprehend some serial murderer.

The only good thing that came out of this was that he was able to find some important clues and helped with the investigation.

Picking out a piece of lint off his suit, he briefly mused how dressing as a student was really, really, boring. But it suited him in a rather odd, no, ironic way.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of a boy about 14 years of age, wearing a mask molded like the face of a fair skinned man with plaited hair. It was rather awkward.

He watched bemused as the man walked from house to house, taking his time gathering the sticky sweet treats and sucking a lollipop from under his mask as he went. He had a hunched figure and worse long baggy jeans and a loose fitting white shirt. His hair was cut in a layered pattern and looked as if he had bed-hair. The black spikes stuck out from all directions.

The boy turned and noticed that Light was observing him with a furrowed brow, then he slowly approached Light.

Light somehow felt like running away, there was something in this older boy that didn't seem to…feel right. But his feet stayed rooted to the ground.

The boy doesn't pull anything funny, he doesn't do anything, he just approaches Light with this firm stride filled with confidence. He whispers something that Light almost cannot catch.

"Konbanwa Raito-kun."

He just stands there shocked, but being a genius, he shakes it off quickly, and greets the older boy.

"Konbanwa." The older boy invites him to sit on the nearby bench. He pulls his knees up to his chest and picks out a single lollipop from his Halloween basket. Light politely refuses the unspoken offer and watches as the boy shrugs, tosses away the earlier stick and begin to consume the new one.

"Say, do you like riddles?"

"Not too much, but I like challenges."

"Here's one, what weighs virtually nothing yet is visible to the naked eyes, and the more you put into a can, the lighter the can becomes."

A moment of silence.

"Holes." Light answers with confidence.

"Say, Raito-kun, do you know who I am?"

"No, I don't think so. You're wearing that mask and I've never met you before, I don't think my Dad has ever met you. But the way you address me, you seem like someone in a high position, though you don't look it. You must at least have spoken to my father at least once, if not in person. You seem to be rather intelligent so, you could be a detective, as impossible as it may be. You're really young. You have your identity hidden almost every time. This is why you do not take off your mask and you haven't told me your name, but since I see no need for you to reveal your identity to me, you probably won't. But you might be either Eraldo Coil, Danueve, or L."

"Interesting. So I was right."

"Thank you, right about what?"

"Oh nothing. Would you like some potato chips?"

"Thank you very much, sir."

"Would you like to solve one last riddle?"

"Okay…"

"What does almost everyone wear, be it visible or invisible, it's still there and it deceives the weak-minded?"

"…Masks."

They sit and talk for ten minutes until Light's younger sister dashes up to Light and greets the older boy before dragging Light back to the hotel. Her poorly made plastic star wand was on the verge of snapping in two. The older boy waved to Light, a hint of amusement in his action.

L trudged back to the hotel, he didn't remove the mask until he reached his hotel room. As he climbed into his armchair and picked out a single toffee from the basket filled to the brim with sweets, he studied it and glanced briefly at the discarded mask on the coffee table.

_You too will someday wear a mask just like everyone else, Yagami-kun… _

The End

A/N: Horrid, no? Konbanwa means Good Evening if you didn't know. Please review.


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